I.G. Patel (1924–2005) was a top Indian economist and civil servant. He served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1977 to 1982.
He later directed the London School of Economics. He is also remembered for doubting the 1978 demonetisation.
Who was I.G. Patel, and what did he study?
Where was he born, and how did he study?
Indraprasad Gordhanbhai Patel was born on 11 November 1924 in Vadodara, Gujarat. He was known as “IG” from childhood.
He completed his BA at the University of Bombay. A scholarship from the Gaekwars of Baroda took him to King’s College, Cambridge.
His tutor there was Sir Austin Robinson. He called Patel his best tutee over his whole time as a Fellow of King’s.
Patel did well early. Encyclopedia.com says he scored the highest marks ever in his college matriculation exams. He graduated from King’s in 1946 and earned a Ph.D. there in 1949.
The IIMA archives list his student prizes: the James Taylor Prize (1944), a Wrenbury Scholarship (1946) and the Adam Smith Prize (1948).
Sources: IIMA profile of Patel · IIMA archives record · Encyclopedia.com biography.
Why does his early training matter for the rest of the story?
Cambridge gave Patel the tools of a professional economist. The IMF then gave him a view of how central banks and governments talk to each other.
That mix of theory and practice is the thread through his career. He moved between teaching, policy and running institutions.
So each later post, from Finance Secretary to RBI Governor, builds on the same base.
Sources: IIMA profile of Patel · Encyclopedia.com biography.
What did he do before joining the government?
Patel joined Baroda College in 1949 as Professor of Economics and Principal.
In 1950 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked him to join its Research Department. He returned to India after five years.
His mentor at the IMF was Edward Bernstein. Later he came back to the Fund as Alternate Executive Director for India, from 1958 to 1961.
So he saw the IMF first as a young researcher and then as India’s representative on its board.
Sources: IIMA archives record · Encyclopedia.com biography.
Check 1
I.G. Patel studied at King’s College, Cambridge, on a scholarship from the Gaekwars of Baroda.
What did he do as RBI Governor?
Which posts did he hold in the Finance Ministry?
Patel spent about 18 years working with the Government of India. He joined the Finance Ministry as Economic Adviser in 1954. He was Deputy Economic Adviser from 1954 to 1958. He became Chief Economic Adviser in 1961, and the IIMA archives record that role until 1967.
He was Special Secretary from 1968 to 1969. He was Secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 1970 to 1972.
After 1972 he spent five years as Deputy Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Sources: IIMA archives record · IIMA profile of Patel.
What did he work on inside the government?
During his years in government, Patel helped with several Five-Year Plans. Encyclopedia.com also says he worked on the nationalisation of India’s banking system.
The IIMA archives add that he was Economic Adviser of the Planning Commission from 1961 to 1963. He also taught as visiting faculty at the Delhi School of Economics.
This shows why the RBI later trusted him. He had planned the economy from the inside and had worked with banks and ministries for years.
Sources: Encyclopedia.com biography · IIMA profile of Patel.
When was he RBI Governor, and who came before and after him?
Patel became the 14th Governor of the RBI on 1 December 1977. He served until 15 September 1982.
M. Narasimham served just before him. Manmohan Singh succeeded him.
The RBI is India’s central bank. Its Governor is the head of that bank. Patel’s five years at the top came after a long career on both the policy side and the global side.
A simple way to remember the order is N, then P, then S: Narasimham, Patel, Singh.
Sources: RBI: Past Governors · IIMA profile of Patel.
Check 2
I.G. Patel succeeded Manmohan Singh as RBI Governor.
What was the 1978 demonetisation?
On 16 January 1978 the government demonetised ₹1,000, ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 notes. This was done under the High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, 1978.
The stated aim was to curb illegal transactions that relied on high-value notes.
The ₹1,000 note was brought back much later. The RBI notes that ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes have since been reintroduced.
Demonetisation means a note stops being legal tender. People must then exchange it at banks. The idea is to pull out hidden cash.
In 1978 only very large notes were affected. Most people did not hold them. That is one reason the 1978 move touched far fewer households than later ones.
Sources: RBI: demonetisation history · PRS legislative brief · Business Standard: demonetisation history.
Why was Patel not in favour of it?
Governor Patel did not favour the exercise. In his book Glimpses of Indian Economic Policy he wrote that such drives seldom produce striking results.
He argued that people holding black money rarely keep it as cash for long. He called the idea of notes tucked away in suitcases or pillow cases naive.
He added that the gesture had to be made. In his words it produced much work and little gain.
Sources: Business Standard: demonetisation history · Times of India: 1978 demonetisation.
Check 3
Governor I.G. Patel was in favour of the 1978 demonetisation.
The strip shows how one career moved from classroom to Delhi, then to the UN, the RBI and two institutes.
Where did he work after the RBI, and how was he honoured?
Which institutions did he lead after the RBI?
Patel was Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) from 1 October 1982 to 10 July 1984.
He then became Director of the London School of Economics (LSE). He served there from 1984 to 1990.
IIMA records that he was the first person of South Asian origin to head a higher education institute in the United Kingdom.
Encyclopedia.com credits his IIMA years with helping make it the leading business school in India. At LSE it says he improved the school’s finances.
He also helped set up two new bodies: a Development Studies Institute and an Interdisciplinary Management Institute. And he handled student protests over LSE’s South African investments with sympathy for the students’ view.
After his term ended in 1990, he stayed on as an honorary fellow of LSE. Back in India, he served as an adviser on economic matters.
Sources: IIMA profile of Patel · LSE History: Directors · Encyclopedia.com biography.
Check 4
I.G. Patel directed the London School of Economics from 1984 to 1990.
Which honours and books did he receive?
Patel was known in the select company of central bankers and economic statesmen. One example is the Committee of the Thirty, set up by former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
He received an honorary knighthood (KBE) from the Queen in 1990. India gave him the Padma Vibhushan in 1991.
His books include Glimpses of Indian Economic Policy: An Insider’s View (2002).
He also received the Vishwa Gurjari Award in 1985. He chaired the IIMA Board of Governors from 1996 to 2001.
He died in New York on 17 July 2005, aged 80.
Sources: IIMA profile of Patel · Encyclopedia.com biography · Yojana, September 2005.
Which books did he write, and what do their titles tell us?
Encyclopedia.com lists four books. Inflation: Should It Be Cured or Endured? came out in 1983. Economic Reform and Global Change followed in 1998.
Glimpses of Indian Economic Policy: An Insider’s View appeared in 2002. An Encounter with Higher Education: My Years at LSE was published in 2004.
Together they cover his three big themes: prices, economic policy and universities. The 2002 and 2004 books are memoirs of what he saw in office.
Sources: Encyclopedia.com biography · IIMA archives record.
Check 5
The Padma Vibhushan was awarded to I.G. Patel in 1991.
What traps do exam questions set?
Which facts are easy to mix up?
The RBI order is M. Narasimham, then I.G. Patel (14th), then Manmohan Singh. Keep the order straight.
Patel led two institutes after the RBI. These were IIMA (1982–84) and then LSE (1984–90). He was Governor, not Director, of the RBI.
The 1978 demonetisation covered ₹1,000, ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 notes. It was Patel who doubted it, not who pushed it.
Two more traps: Patel was at the IMF twice, first as a researcher in the 1950s and then as Alternate Executive Director in 1958–61. And his books include memoirs from 2002 and 2004, so do not date them to his RBI years.
Sources: RBI: Past Governors · IIMA profile of Patel · RBI: demonetisation history · Business Standard: demonetisation history.
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